Myanmar: UN Warns Hundreds of Thousands Affected by Aid Disruption in Rakhine State

2 April 2014 – The United Nations humanitarian wing is warning that life-saving assistance to hundreds of thousands of vulnerable people in Myanmar’s Rakhine state have been seriously disrupted following the recent attacks on the UN and non-governmental organizations (NGOs)[…]

Department of State: Statement by Marie Harf, Deputy Spokesperson: United States Concern Over Events in Rakhine State

The United States remains deeply concerned by the humanitarian crisis in Burma’s Rakhine State. Violent mob attacks on United Nations and nongovernmental organization offices worsened an already troubling situation stemming from restriction of the operations of a major humanitarian organization that provided health care services to 140,000 internally displaced persons and hundreds of thousands of additional individuals in need. Currently, large segments of the population do not have access to adequate medical services, water, sanitation, and food. The government has so far failed to provide adequate security and the travel authorizations necessary for the humanitarian aid workers to resume their life-saving services […]

UNFPA, DFID & Other Donors Should Withdraw Burma Census Support

Burma Campaign UK today called on the United Nations, the Department for International Development (DFID) and other donors to Burma’s census to withdraw their political, technical and financial support in order to avoid further endorsement of discriminatory policies against the Rohingya being applied in the census […]

Facilitating Hate from the Highest Levels of Power

The situation in Arakan State is deteriorating rapidly as extremist monks continue to spread hate speech and incite violence against the Muslim community with impunity. With the upcoming census set to inflame tensions over the issue of Rohingya, Arakanese nationalists have been exacerbating these tensions by campaigning for the census to be changed. Such protests descended into violence as United Nations (UN) and non-governmental organizations’ (NGO) offices were ransacked and aid workers forced to flee. Meanwhile, at the national level, highly discriminatory laws are being drafted by certain ministries to be presented to Parliament.

The leader of the extremist Buddhist 969 movement, Wirathu, has been whipping up anti-Muslim fervor among the local Arakanese Buddhist population, demanding that the UN-planned census be changed. The All Rakhine Committee for the Census (ARCC) had threatened a state-wide boycott of the census due to the option for Rohingya to identify themselves as Rohingya.  Adding to the tension has been the antagonism towards international relief and UN agencies for allegedly favouring Rohingya Muslims in their work. This is, of course, a preposterous claim given that such organizations engage in service provision for those who need it most, regardless of their ethnicity, religion or political affiliation, with the majority of such victims happening to be Rohingya. This fervor came to a head as mobs descended on UN and NGO offices in the state capital, Sittwe, late last week […]

Burmese Muslim Association Statement on Violence Against Aid Agencies in Arakan State and the Census

Burmese Muslim Association (BMA) is deeply concerned by the recent attacks on international aid agencies in Sittwe, Arakan State, on 26th and 27th March 2014. BMA condemns these attacks in the strongest possible terms […]

Myanmar: Malteser International Calls for Reopening of Humanitarian Space

The census which is planned by the Government of Myanmar for the weekend of 29/30 March 2014 and which is boycotted by various groups, has led to the recent unrest in Sittwe, situated in Rakhine State in the northwest of Myanmar, near the border with Bangladesh. A Buddhist flag should be displayed at every house as a visible sign for this boycott. – Already since 2012, ethnic violence has been on-going in Rakhine State […]

UNFPA Statement on Myanmar Census and Violence in Rakhine State

YANGON—UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, is very concerned about the mob attacks on international NGO and UN offices in Sittwe yesterday, and supports the call by the UN Resident Coordinator/Humanitarian Coordinator (a.i.) on the Government to ensure the protection of the humanitarian and development community in Rakhine State […]

Burma: Postpone Flawed Census to Avert Violence

(New York) – Burma’s national government should postpone the planned nationwide census to prevent growing communal violence and attacks on the aid community, Human Rights Watch said today. At greatest risk are vulnerable Muslim communities and aid workers from international organizations […]

One Year on From Meiktila Violence – Hate Speech Unchallenged – Prejudice To Become Law

A year on from anti-Muslim violence in Meiktila, members of the European Burma Network express their deep concern that not only does hate-speech remain largely unchallenged within Burma, but prejudicial laws proposed by those promoting hatred against Muslims have been endorsed by the President, and are likely to become law. Those displaced by anti-Muslim violence in Meiktila remain in camps, unable to return home. The failure to tackle anti-Muslim prejudice means it […]

Marching to Genocide in Burma – New Report by United To End Genocide

United to End Genocide completed a four week fact-finding mission to Burma on March 16, 2014. What we discovered was alarming. Nowhere in the world are there more known precursors to genocide than in Burma today. Hundreds have been killed with a death toll mounting daily, tens of thousands have fled under the most hazardous conditions, and 140,000 have been forced into horrible, overcrowded camps where they face severe restrictions and are denied basic necessities including medical care[…]